The Dick's Sporting Goods store is right across from the Daytona International Speedway and was said to be packed when the robbers walked in.

"They show her a gun and tell her to open up the safe, don't make any sounds. Keep this quiet," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Mike Chitwood.

Chitwood said the armed men were good and knew just what they were doing when they sauntered into the store midday Wednesday and cleaned out the store safe.

"They didn't come in, it wasn't like a take-over robbery," said Chitwood. "They walked in like customers, they milled around, and they identified who the manager was. Clearly, they've scoped this place out."

Customers had no idea what was going on, and many didn't even notice the men. Customers were briefly locked in the store for questioning and then released.

"One was talking to a manager, one was walking around looking at stuff, and next thing we knew, cops showed up and asked us to leave," said shopper Shane Drumm.

Police were just a few hundred feet away at the speedway.

They were on the scene in moments, but the robbers had already left in a waiting vehicle.

Even other employees didn't know they were in the middle of an armed robbery or that their manager was being held at gunpoint.

"They took her phone and they took the way she communicates with the others -- the intercom that she has to communicate with the other employees," said Chitwood.

After they got the money, the men forced the manager to walk up front with them while they left the store.

The manager was shaken but unhurt, and she alerted others who called for help.